Field of the Invention
The present application relates to prostheses for use in the eye. In particular, the present application relates to prostheses that enhance or alter the appearance of a wearer's eye.
Background
It is known that the aperture of the human eye (i.e., largest vertical distance between an individual's upper lid and lower lid) reduces in overall diameter by 1.5 mm or more as one matures from that of a child to that of an adult of the age of 40 and even more as one matures to that of a senior of 60 years or older. In addition to a reduction in aperture size due to old age, some individuals suffer from blepharoptosis, also referred to as ptosis, which is defined as an abnormal low-lying upper eyelid margin within the eye in primary gaze. In some instances, ptosis is correctable by surgery. Moreover, some individuals may desire a larger eye aperture for cosmetic purposes.
Traditional corneo-scleral contact lenses (soft contact lenses or hybrid contact lenses) that fit on the cornea of one's eye (do not vault the cornea) and extend over the limbus and bulbar conjunctiva thus covering part of the sclera are not being used for correcting ptosis and/or the widening of the wearer's palpebral fissure. This is due to their geometrical design. Also corneal contact lenses (rigid or soft) that fit only the cornea and do not extend past the limbus are not used for correcting ptosis and/or the widening of the wearer's palpebral fissure due to geometrical design and overall diameter. Scleral contact lenses are hard/rigid and have been designed in the past to fit snugly against the sclera of the wearer's eye, “vault the cornea” and have a very thick edge design such to lift the upper lid of the wearer's eye having ptosis. While scleral contact lenses have existed in the past that will lift the upper lid of the wearer's eye these hard/rigid sclera contact lenses are highly uncomfortable, cause very red eyes and irritate the eye lid margin thus presenting severe limitations for the wearer. For these reasons the commercial success of scleral contact lenses to correct for ptosis has been a major failure. Thus non-surgical and comfortable means to widen the natural palpebral fissure of an individual's eye are of interest.